Crystal Coast Home and Condo Report

Here is a very good overview of the Crystal Coast real estate market as it stands right now. Price, location, inventory and financing are all discussed. It covers 2013 in review and the status of things here and now. It’s clear, concise and to the point!

Crystal Coast Home Sold Prices

The median sold price of a Crystal Coast home in 2013 was $184K. The average sold price was $234K. The reason for the wide gap between median and average sold prices is this. The Crystal Coast has some very pricey homes. These homes can range on past a couple of million dollars. Not many of these homes are sold but enough of them to skew the average sold price up.

The median sold price is concentrating on the middle number of homes where most are bought. It lobs off the top number of homes and the bottom number of homes and looks at where most of the sales occur. Almost 70 percent of all homes sold were bought beneath the average sold price. The high ticket homes, although far fewer, are cause for the price spike.

Contrasting home sales are condos. Here the average sold price was $225K and the median sold price was $210.

Here are the average sold prices for the year 2013 in select Crystal Coast towns and cities

Beaufort-$245K

Atlantic Beach-$324K

Morehead City-$246K

Newport-$164K

Cape Carteret-$195K

Emerald Isle-$523K

Havelock-$136K

Down East-$155

Crystal Coast Inventory

Inventory continues to be the big issue in the Crystal Coast real estate market. 2013 ended up with a 22 month supply of homes and a 29 month supply of condominiums. A 6 month supply is considered a normal, stable market.

This market place has never successfully handled more than 800 to 900 homes for sale on the market at a single time. Currently the Crystal Coast housing market is double that. It has been double to triple that amount for about 6 to 7 years now.

How did people pay for their Crystal Coast home? 37 percent obtained a conventional loan, 27 percent via a VA Loan. But a whopping 26 percent of all residential properties bought were paid for by cash!

Here’s some food for thought. If cash sales are so high, but inventory is still glutted what then, does that suggest? First off, buyers have access to funds. So why aren’t more buyers buying? Simple, the price is too high. A large portion of those cash sales are for distressed properties. Foreclosures and short sales which were not even tracked and accounted for a few years ago can now make up to 10, 15 and even 20 percent of over-all sales.

Margaret Hitchcock is a Realtor and owner/operator of Hitchcock Realty in Morehead City along the Crystal Coast of North Carolina. Whether it is a home or condo, on the beach or mainland be sure to contact Margaret today. Visit her online at www.HitchcockRealty.net or call (252) 269-2893.